Sam's Recovery - Cancer Can Be Beaten!

Whenever we hear of someone being diagnosed with cancer, we feel terrible and sorry for the patient.

We know that some people can survive cancer but many who would not. I lost both of my sisters-in-law to cancer in the past five years. My brothers are now in their sixty’s coping with life as widowers.

This was why my husband and I were thrilled to meet Sam last weekend when we visited him and his wife at their home in Niagara Falls. Eliza and her husband have a lovely home in the Greater Toronto Area and they serve God faithfully in their church at Richmond Hills.

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

They are church planters. They willingly leave the comfort of their established home church and go to Niagara Falls to start a new church.  Since they work in Toronto, they could not reside in Niagara Falls during the week. They bought a second home in Niagara Falls seven years ago for the sole purpose of using it for the church. Each Saturday evening, they drive to Niagara Falls from Toronto, a two hour drive, stay there overnight and get ready to help out in the Sunday Service the next morning. 

Eliza Remains Committed to Overseas  Ministries Despite Difficult Situations

I really admire Eliza and Sam’s faithfulness and dedication in serving the new church in the Niagara Falls region.  Through thick and thin, they have been supporting and helping out in that new church for the past seven years willingly and sacrificially. 

Despite Sam’s diagnose with throat cancer a while back, Sam and Eliza put their trust in God. They are positive, optimistic and cheerful all the time.  They carry on their daily life and business as usual. 

 Sam’s illness did not dampen their enthusiasm  or reduce their efforts in giving their best to God. Not only do both of them  persist in their weekly services in Niagara Falls, Eliza remains committed to helping the people and church ministries in Cambodia and other parts of Asia. Their positive outlook in life, confidence in God and generosity towards others have really inspired us.

Eliza and Sam have generously donated the use of their house to pastors, missionaries and church groups giving them a quiet and comfortable place for meetings and retreats. We were there last weekend to check out the place for our youth group training at the end of July.

It was great to see Sam looking healthy and in good spirit. He informed us that he was not beaten by cancer. He is in his sixty’s , and  a cancer survivor!  He goes to the monthly cancer support group to share his good news with other cancer patients and to encourage them.  He tries to eat healthy food such as lots of whole grain cereal,  avoid any burn or deep fried food and lives a healthy life style by going to bed and waking up early with little consumption of cigarettes or alcohol.

On that Sunday morning when we were guests at their house, Sam got up early in the morning and cooked  himself a huge bowl of homemade hot cereal with wholesome ingredients such as roll oats, raisins, cranberries, quinoa, and other multigrain. He said that  each morning it was important for him to eat something healthy, nutritious and substantial for breakfast so that his body would be supplied with good nutrition and help him build immunity against the disease. It would take him an hour to finish this big bowl of cereal ( For me, that bowl of hot cereal would last me for a week! ), but he has to do it everyday to ensure a proper diet for his body.

Most important of all, “ Maintain a positive attitude and cast your worries to God and pray.”  said Sam.

I have heard that religion and prayers play a vital role in patients’ recovery from serious illnesses.

Sam’s  miraculous recovery from cancer is a shining example of that! We thank God for Sam’s recovery and for listening to prayers!

R.T., Niagara Falls, Ontario
June, 2013

Dinner at the Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens

Whenever our son comes home to visit us in Toronto, I always try to prepare some nice home cooking for him.  But this time instead of cooking up a storm and spending all my time and energy in the kitchen, we went to Swiss Chalet, Eric's favourite chicken restaurant in Toronto for dinner after my husband picked him up from the airport.

Eric ordered a chicken and full rack of ribs combo while I had a bowl of chicken soup and some of the ribs from his plate.  The ribs were delicious!

Maple Leaf Garden - A Historical and Beloved Building in Toronto

On Thursday morning, I dropped Eric off at the Yorkmills subway station to go downtown to his interview.  I had my weekly session at fairchild radio1430.  Then rushed downtown to meet with Jonathan for our dinner at 5:00pm.

Jonathan suggested eating at the Maple Leaf Gardens in downtown Toronto around College St.area.








Loblaws, Canada's largest grocery company, converted this historical hockey arena, formerly where Toronto's hockey games were played,  to a modern full service super market with over 81,000 square footage.

A huge maple leaf made of old plastic seats from the arena

Loblaws did a good job preserving some of the memorabilia of the former hockey arena.

A wall mural depicting the Stanley Cup and some hockey legends adorned the huge wall on one side of the store.

Pictures of past hockey games and players decorated the tops of the tables in the eating area.









The one item I liked the best was the huge blue Maple Leaf wall sculpture made of the old blue arena seats. How smart was that?

Recycled some of the old seats and turned them into a piece of wall art!  

A comfortable and spacious eating area

This is a huge grocery store selling a tremendous number of grocery items!

Besides selling grocery items, the Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws offers its customers two very spacious eating areas where customers can  relax and enjoy the  food they purchase.

A variety of hot and cold cooked dishes to entice hungry customers.

There were a lot of prepared dishes to suit every taste:

chicken, ribs, salmon, cabbage rolls, a full salad and pasta buffet, Sushi, pizza, pastries, 9 different kinds of hot soups ( squash and carrot coconut were my favourites!) and a colourful arrays of cupcakes and desserts,etc.

I was salivating and wanted to try everything!

Diary and Cheese Department offered various kinds of cheese

We had never eaten there. Jonathan and I had our early dinner there. Looking all those colourfully arranged cheese, fresh breads and fantastic looking desserts was enough to make us hungry.

He ordered some beef ribs and a quarter chicken, some rapini  a bowl of cheesy pasta.

I treasure our weekly dinner with our younger son and try to eat at different places. Eating at Loblaws is quite enjoyable!

Yummy yummy pastries!

I knew Eric hadn't seen the renovated Maple Leaf Gardens therefore we texted him to come and join us there for dinner as well.

All four of us had dinner there but Jonathan had to leave for work before Eric arrived, so the brothers did not get to meet.

Colourfully decorated desserts!

The food was good. The store was bright and cheerfully decorated. It was a nice place to shop at especially when you have a bit of time to appreciate the vast variety of food items offered.

I enjoyed shopping there and love the eating area where we could grab a quick bite to eat.  I would bring my mom here for a visit as there are plenty of seating area for people to rest when they are tired. We could really make a fun day trip for my mother.

A tea corner where one could sample different teas.

I wish Eric had more time to have a cup of after dinner tea/ coffee with us. But his cousin had arranged for him to meet a friend and he was rushing for time.

After dinner, Eric dropped us off at the subway and he went off to meet his friend. There is never enough time to spend with Eric. The time he spends at home is always so short, just a day or two.

How I wish we could spend a little time together just talking and sharing about the happenings in our lives! Spending quality time with our loved ones - there is nothing better than that!

R.T.,Downtown Toronto
June 5, 2013

Saving Lives by Doing a Simple Thing

Saturday, June 22, 2013

I was really happy to learn that our son got a job offer in San Fransisco at a company he would really enjoy working. With springs in my steps, I went to my church to take part in the volunteer training for the Stem Cell Drive after talking to Er.

Patrick Chan - Our beloved Canadian World Figure Skating Champion is a Strong Supporter of the Stem Cell Initiative

The Stem Cell Swab Drive volunteer training session was two hours long and I learned a lot. For instance:

Many People Came and Gave a Sample of Their Cells for Timothy Lo

1. Finding a stem cell match for a patient is not an easy task.

  The chance of finding a match is 1 out of 20,000. As a result, there needs to be a huge number of donors.

A Donor Hero Gave His Cells and Saved a Life!

2. There are a lot of people currently waiting for stem cell donation so that their diseases could be cured. Unfortunately, there is a huge lack of donors, especially among ethnic groups such as Chinese Canadians.

3. The best donors are people aged 17 - 35, especially males.

Many people are afraid of donating stem cells because they have the misconception that it would be a painful and complicated process. While stem cell donors need to be aware that if your stem cell is a match for a patient, you do need to commit sometime to the process. However,  the process itself can be as simple as donating blood.

Giving a Sample of Your Cells is Easy - Just Take a Q Tip and Swab the Inside of Your Cheeks for 20 Seconds

The Stem Cell Booths were opened that afternoon from 3 -6p.m. for people to give a swab sample of their inner cheek cells. I was glad to see that there were people, mostly young people coming in steadily throughout the whole afternoon to give a swab sample of their cells.

The Swab Samples are Placed in an Collection Envelop for Testing

Many people came because they heard about Steven Lo - a young man of 24 years old  struck with a very serious case of leukemia suddenly. He has gone through chemotherapy but is not getting any better nor is his body able to produce any immunity to defend itself against diseases.

One Match and Other Half really hope that by educating the public and reaching out to the community, they can get more donors out to do swab samples.

There are a number of events planned during the summer in the Toronto area and I pray and sincerely hope that a stem cell match can be found soon for Steven and other patients like him waiting for stem cell transplants.

R.T.
Toronto

God Answers Our Prayers!!!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

I was very busy last week as I was teaching the leadership course for visiting educators from overseas. I didn't have much time checking my emails nor doing my morning devotion as I rushed out to work at the west end of the city.

I got up this morning, remembered to say my prayers for my church, others as well as my loved ones. I was privileged to have privacy in my own home so I could pour my heart out to God like Hannah did in front of God. I had a good cry, emptied out my worries and laid down my burdens while on my knees. I felt so much better!!

Downstairs I went and checked my emails after my prayer. I opened my email and there staring in my face was an email from my son, titled " Updated job offer letter".  With my heart pounding and my breathing quickening, I skimmed over the letter. A job offer letter to our son who signed back accepting the offer from a company he wanted to work for in San Fransisco!!!

Praise God!!!  I went into the living room, dropped on my knees and thanked Him for answering my prayers. I was overwhelmed with so many emotions: happiness, relief, gratitude, thankfulness, a sense of awe for God,  pride for my son and sharing of his joy at finding a job he would truly enjoy doing. Months of worries vanished and lifted off my shoulders at that moment.

Who am I? But a speck of dust on this earth yet the creator of the universe cares about me, hears, answers my prayers and bestows His blessings upon me and my loved ones! How can I not praise God and thank Him for His faithfulness, mercy and love! I felt God's embrace and love surrounding me from head to toes. I cried out in joy for my son and praised God. Tears of happiness kept running down on my face washing away the dark clouds of doubts in my mind.

I planned to call Er. this morning not knowing that he already had a job offer. I called him immediately and congratulated him. Er sounded very happy about his new job and was already planning his move to San Fransisco. He asked us to go to New York to visit him before his move out west. I gladly accepted the invitation.  Though he got this offer on the thirteen of June, he did not call us right away. Neither did he share this good news on Fathers' Day last week. He said Fathers' Day was about his dad, not him, so he did not want to tell us. How he could manage to keep this exciting news from us for almost ten days was beyond me.  What made it more exciting was that his company would send him to Japan for training for a month and he offered to pay for our tickets to go to Japan to visit him!!

Wow! That was Er's Mothers /Fathers' gift for us! What a great gift indeed!

Retired Boomer,  Toronto
I went to church and told my husband Er's good news and he was absolutely delighted about it!!! I wish we were home so that we could both be jumping for joy



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Work Smart; Dont' Just Work Hard

Last Saturday, I was invited to give an employment workshop at a young people's fellowship. I promised that I would post the notes in my blog. Here are the notes from my workshop called:

         " Don't Just Work Hard; Work Smart and Get Promoted"

Career Goals

If you want to go places or get promoted at work, you must set goals for yourself. Think about what would you like to achieve in different periods of time. Do just let time go by year after year without setting goals and achieving them.

•          Short  Term

•          Long Term goals

•          1 year

•          5 year

•          10 year

•          Plan of actions to achieve them

•          Promotional track

•          The most  important thing I have to do to get promoted is………

•           

Important Qualities

Many people make the mistake of simply working hard at the workplace without thinking of other things.   Please be aware that Hard working alone is not enough. You need to work smart and know what skills and what you need to do before you can be promoted at work.  The following skills are paramount to be successful at work:

•          Good communication skills – Extremely important, the number 1 criteria!!!

•          Mentors and support network

•          Reasonable command of English – good writing and speaking skills without a lot of mistakes

•          Life -long learning attitude

•          Understanding of western cultures and values

Learn About Your Company

•          Research Company

•          Know the products

•          Know the organization structure

•          Knowledge is Power

Be Observant

•          Observe how people behave

•          Know expectations

•          Company cultures & values

•          Learn office politics

•          Know who you can trust at work

•          Do not isolate yourself

•          Form alliance with colleagues with other ethnic groups

Be Sensitive

•          We live in a Multicultural Cociety

•          50% immigrants to Canada land in  Toronto

•          Respect other people’s cultures and differences

•          E.g. Food – do not complain other people’s food

•          Do not speak your own ethnic language:

•          In front of other ethnic  groups  such as your  colleagues

•          In elevator

•          Office

•          Body language

Good Manners = Consideration

•          Must use  Thank you, please, excuse me

•          Holding doors for others especially for women, and other people coming after you

•          Do not interrupt other people`s  conversation

•          Wait for your turn

•          Aware of voice level and way of speaking

•          Understand  I want  vs I would like.  Avoid using I want to….

•          Can sound abrupt & rude

Good Manner - Eating Etiquette at work

Do’s

•         Close  mouth while eating

•         Wipe  mouth while / after  finish eating

•         Respect other  people’s food

•          

•         Don’t

•         Bring fish or strong smelling food to lunch

•         Make noise while you eat/ drink

•         Talk while you are eating

•         Bring the plate or bowl to your mouth to eat

Appearance

•         Dress professionally

•         Dress for desired position

•         Dress according to season

•         Colour , fabric

•         Coordinate colour

•         No more than 3 colours on your body

•         Understand Canadian culture

•         Know what’s going on

•         Understand the subtleties in daily living

Grooming

•         Hair is important!!!

•         Hair should be cut professionally

•         No home cut style!!

•         Spending money on your haircut  is money well spent!

•         Avoid bad breath

•         Mouth wash or breath mints every morning &  use them before meeting

•         Finger nails - cut and clean

•         Should use deodorant to avoid body orour

•         Women – light make up/lip stick are essential

Wash Hair Every Other day

•         Use conditioner esp. in winter

•         Proper shampoo - dandruff shampoo

Important Skills

There are two main sets of skills needed at work.

•         Technical  Skills

•          

•         Technical knowledge

•         Professional skills

•         High Expectations for your work and performance

•         Strive for Excellence in everything you do

•         Life Long Learning – keep learning and improving yourself

•          

•         Soft Skills

Many employers nowadays consider these skills more important than the technical skills. Many employers feel than employees lacking technical can be trained to improve their skills. However, if they don’t have good people skills, they will encounter problems with other employees and customers.

•         Problem Solving

•         People skills

•         Getting Along

•         Team work

•         Cooperation

Networking

A large percentage of jobs are not advertised. Therefore, you must develop your own network so that you can have more opportunities and access to find good unadvertised jobs. Learning to small talk will help you to develop better relationship at work.

•         Small talk with:

•         Colleagues

•         Supervisors

•         Colleagues

•         Secretary

•         Attend seminars, conferences, workshops

•         Volunteer on committees

•         Get to know counterpart in other companies

Be Assertive

 

•         Talk to supervisor regularly, informally

•         Make appointment to talk to supervisor

•         Tell them about your goals and ambitions

•         Ask for advise and opportunities to assume leadership roles at work to gain experience

•         Develop career plan and follow through with actions

•         Try to have someone at work to be your Mentor – If you can get your supervisor as your mentor. He/she will advocate for you when promotion opportunities arise.

•         As your mentor, your supervisor will help you for your promotion

Professional Image & Manner

You must cultivate a professional image, attitude and manner at work.  Remember when you are in a management position, you represent your company. There is a certain image you must project as a professional person. First impression is lasting, therefore try to look and behave as professional as possible at work.  

Be Faithful to God

•         Pray & Ask God to:

•         Give you wisdom

•         Show you the way

•         Open doors

•         Be faithful in your service

•         Put God first

•         Be faithful & do your best in small jobs first. When we put our best effort in doing our best in whatever job God gives us, He will entrust us with bigger responsibilities in the future.

•         Don’t forget to tithe and honour God with your earning!

Jabez’s Prayer  - 1 Chronicles 4:10

•         And Jabez made a prayer to the God of Israel, saying, If only you would truly give me a blessing, and make wider the limits of my land, and let your hand be with me, and keep me from evil, so that it may not grieve me! And God granted him which he requested.

R.T.

Toronto